Review: The Last Hope by Erin Hunter

Imagine a world with talking feral cats. Some of them can communicate with their ancestors. These feral cats live in four Clans with different roles. Three cats have special powers. There are many battles between the four Clans. And the battles are not the only adventures in the books. This is the world of Warriors.

The Last Hope is the sixth and final book in the Omen of the Stars series. The Omen of the Stars series is the fourth Warriors series. This book shows the climatic battle between the Dark Forest and the Clans (with their ancestors in StarClan). It also shows the end of the prophecy that was the main plotline in the Power of Three series (the third series) and the Omen of the Stars series.

This book may be hard to follow if this is the first Warriors book you are reading. The Last Hope doesn’t explain basic Warriors concepts such as Clan hierarchy, StarClan and the Dark Forest as it’s the twenty-fourth Warriors book. However, you don’t have to read all of the twenty-three books prior to this one to understand it, though I recommend you do as all of those books are good and will let you see the backstories of many characters (especially the villains, Brokenstar and Tigerstar who are main characters in the first series). Those books also have points-of-view from main characters that don’t have one in The Last Hope like Firestar, Brambleclaw, Leafpool, Squirrelflight and Hollyleaf. You will understand the book if you’ve read all or some of the books in the Omen of the Stars series.

The spirits of evil cats dwell in the Dark Forest. They are planning to attack the Clans and seize control. They have been training many Clan cats in fighting during their dreams. Will the Dark Forest trainees stay loyal to the Clans or be traitors? One of the point-of-view characters named Ivypool is a Dark Forest trainee who is spying for the Clans.

While the Dark Forest is growing stronger, a prophecy is coming to a close. The prophecy says that three of Firestar’s kin (Lionblaze, Jayfeather and Dovewing) ‘hold the power of the stars in their paws’. Each cat has a special power that they are planning to use to defeat the Dark Forest. The prophecy also mentions a fourth cat that they need to find in order to save the Clans.

This book concludes almost all of the major and minor plotlines from the past four series. Some of the questions that are answered are: Who becomes Dovewing’s mate? Will Cinderheart become a medicine cat or stay a warrior? Will the Clans ally or stay separate? Who is the fourth cat in the prophecy? Does StarClan send a sign that Dawnpelt’s accusation against Jayfeather is false? And most importantly, which side will win?

The Last Hope was good. The first half of the book moves at a good pace and the plotlines are solved one at a time. It also makes you anticipate the end of book. I started to think of new questions in my mind while I was reading. I got to see new parts of many characters’ personalities such as Ivypool, Hollyleaf and Cinderheart.

The second half of the book showed the final battle. The battle seemed a little rushed but was still exciting. A few favorite characters do die. The best part was the character personality arc of characters such as Ivypool, Hollyleaf, Crowfeather and Brambleclaw. Unfortunately, there is no epilogue.

Overall, I would recommend this book to all Warriors fans and people who like animals, action and suspense. This book is a great way to end the Omen of the Stars series.